Thursday, 27 October 2016

Prime Minister concerned over grievances of EPF beneficiaries

Prime Minister concerned over grievances of EPF beneficiaries

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed concern over the large number of
grievances of labourers and EPF beneficiaries and said a system should be in place under
which the process of finalisation of retirement benefits for all employees can begin a year
in advance.

“Discussed methods of redressal of grievances pertaining to the
Labour & Employment Ministry and how technology can play a big role in this,” Modi
tweeted after his monthly meeting of PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely
Implementation), an ICT-based platform where he interacts directly with top officials of the
Centre and states to discuss implementation of programmes and schemes.

During the
meeting, he expressed “concern at the large number of grievances of labourers and EPF
beneficiaries” and said the government must be sensitive to labourers needs.

“Governments have to be sensitive to the needs & grievances of the workers, who toil
day & night and have a major role in India s progress,” he added.

He said
that in a democracy, the labourers should not have to struggle to receive their legitimate
dues and requested introduction of a system so that the process of finalization of
retirement benefits for all employees can begin a year in advance, a PMO statement said.

In case of an untimely death, he said the papers should be completed within a
specified time, and officers should be made accountable for the same, the statement
added.

During the meeting, Labour Secretary outlined the improvements brought in
the grievance redressal system, such as introduction of online transfer of claims,
electronic challans, mobile applications and SMS alerts, linking UAN to Aadhaar numbers,
introduction of tele-medicine and empanelling of more super-speciality hospitals.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the progress of e-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture
Mandi) initiative which began in April this year with 21 mandis spread over 8 states.

Officials said it has now expanded to 250 mandis spread over 10 states, the PMO
statement said.

13 states have completed the process of amending the APMC Act,
the meeting was told, after which the Prime Minister urged the remaining states to quickly
make the required changes in the APMC Act, so that e-NAM could be enabled across the
country.

He said the farmer can benefit only if ‘Assaying’ and ‘Grading’
facilities are made available, so that the farmer can market his produce in mandis across
the country.

He also invited Chief Secretaries of states to give their
suggestions on e-NAM.